Horse standing by a man
Bet Hesa Boon & Clayton Edsall. • Photo by Molly Montag.

Bet Hesa Boon Puts Everything Together For Edsall At Vegas Derby

Bet Hesa Boon has always been a good show horse, but this year something always seemed to keep him from bringing home an Open championship. That changed at the National Stock Horse Association (NSHA) Futurity show in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The blue roan stallion (Bet Hesa Cat x Flo N Blu Boon x Pretty Boy Boon) and California trainer Clayton Edsall won the Derby Open and Derby Intermediate Open championships on Saturday, Aug. 25, during the show at the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa. It was their second trip this year to the South Point. In April, he and Edsall won the National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) Stakes Open Novice Horse Championship.

They also made the Open finals during the NRCHA Stakes, even topping the herd work, but a stumble in the cow work finals cost them a shot at the Open title.

“All year we’ve been really good in the reining and the herd work and we’ve been good enough to make the finals, but then in the finals, like at the [NRCHA] Derby, he stumbled in my first turn and I just pulled up,” Edsall said. “So I knew it was there. It’s just nice that it kind of come together tonight.”

Their composite of 660 (219 herd/221 rein/220 cow) made for a $13,385 haul. That bumped the stallion’s lifetime Equi-Stat record to more than $37,906.

Horse chasing a cow
Bet Hesa Boon & Clayton Edsall in the cow work finals of the Derby at the NSHA Futurity. • Photo by Molly Montag.

Even after the slip-up at the NRCHA Derby, Edsall believed the horse still had it in him to bring home the Open victory. It was just a matter of helping him get comfortable using his natural talents.

“He’s got so much stop and draw and look, and [it was] just getting him confident running and doing that. You know, this was the first time where we’ve gotten him to run and feel comfortable and be able to stop,” said Edsall, an earner of more than $610,000. “Because he’s got so much stop and so much spread and he’s so low headed that I think that it took him a little bit to figure out how to do all that with speed.”

The plan is to point the horse owned by Beverly Vaughn, of Durango, Colorado, toward next year’s Hackamore Classic in Fort Worth, Texas. Edsall said he also looks forward to showing in next year’s derbies, but also thinks the horse bred by Gardiner Quarter Horses, of Ashland, Kansas, is talented enough that he could some day explore reining and cutting events as well.

“He’s so good,” Edsall said of the horse’s demeanor. “He’s so low headed, but he’s got a little watch to him and you know that’s what makes him great on a cow and that’s what makes him great in the reining.”

The Derby Intermediate Open Reserve Championship went to Metallic Rays and Ricky Nicolazzi. He and the son of Equi-Stat Elite $20 Million Sire Metallic Cat out of Margaret Rey (by Dual Rey) marked a composite of 655.5 (215 herd/219 rein/221.5 cow). Also third in the Derby Open, they earned $7,628 for owner Sarah Davis.

Derby Limited Open

The Derby Limited Open Championship went to Mr Fletch Cat and Will Pennebaker. 

Pennebaker, of Wilton, California, piloted the horse (Mr Playinstylish x Lil Fletch Cat x Royal Fletch) to a composite of 651.5 (219 herd/221.5 rein/217.5 cow)). The 2013 gelding bred by Kit and Charlie Moncrief, of Fort Worth, Texas, earned $5,725 for owner Sabrina Thomas, of Anderson, California.

Derby Level 1 Limited Open

One of the newest kids on the cow horse block brought his considerable experience — in cutting — to the South Point arena.

Horse chasing a cow
DMAC Reydar & Clint Allen. • Photo by Molly Montag.

Equi-Stat Elite $4 Million Rider Clint Allen, a member of the National Cutting Horse Hall of Fame, rode DMAC Reydar to the Derby Level 1 Limited Open Championship at the NSHA Futurity.

Allen and the gelding (Dual Smart Rey x Boons A Dreamin x Peptoboonsmal) owned by David and Stacie McDavid marked a composite of 650 (217 herd/208 rein/221 cow) to take the title.

They also were Limited Open Reserve Champions.

The horse bred by Marvin Ranch LLC, of Meeker, Colorado, earned $1,540 for his owners.

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